Louisiana Health Insurance

How healthy is living
in Louisiana?

Louisiana tied with Mississippi as the 49th healthiest state to live in according to the 2012 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• The high school graduation rate increased from 63.5 percent in 2011 to 67.3 percent in 2012.
• Funding for public health has increased by $33 per person over the past four years.

The bad news:

• The state has consistently ranked 48th or lower since the United Health Foundation began publishing its annual ratings in 1990.
• Nearly 34 percent of adults are physically inactive, and nearly 12 percent have diabetes.

Louisiana's best and worst category rankings:

• Immunization Coverage – 7th
• Binge Drinking – 9th
• Public Health Funding – 13th
• Obesity – 49th
• Children in Poverty – 49th
• Low Birth Weight – 49th
• Infant Mortality – 49th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Louisiana.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key Louisiana health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts Louisiana here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for Louisiana, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

Does Louisiana have a health insurance high risk pool?

Louisiana Health Plan
Toll-free 1-800-736-0947 or (504) 926-6245

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, Louisiana started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about Louisiana's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

Non-profit sources of health insurance information for Louisiana

• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's mission is to provide simplified public and private health insurance eligibility information in order to help more people access coverage. Here is its guide on how to find health insurance in Louisiana.
• The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is tracking the progress of health insurance reform in each state. Its page for Louisiana can be found here.
• The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers. Search for Louisiana health insurance plan report cards.

Louisiana state government health insurance resources

Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program (LaCHIP) —  Provides no-cost health insurance to low-income children, including dental care. Includes doctor charges, hospitalization, immunization and other services.

Department of Health & Hospitals —  State agency dealing with health care issues in Louisiana.

Louisiana Department of Insurance/Health Insurance —  Offers descriptions of specific divisions and programs within the Department of Insurance that specifically deal with health insurance issues – each listing has several contacts listed. The department publishes this PDF consumer guide to individual health insurance in Louisiana. The Senior Health Insurance Information Program is for Louisiana residents who have reached retirement age. File [...]

How did Louisiana officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (6)

• Rodney Alexander
• Charles Boustany

• Bill Cassidy
• John Fleming

• Jeff Landry
• Steve Scalise

Our
Pick

No (1)

• Cedric Richmond